


The Erised Charm

by 28Danny_Z



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Ginny Weasley, First Kiss, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Harry Potter & Ginny Weasley Friendship, Hogwarts Eighth Year, Insecure Draco Malfoy, Insecure Harry, It Gets Better, M/M, Malfoy-Potter Children, Minor Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, OFC - Freeform, OMC - Freeform, Pining Draco Malfoy, Pining Harry, Protective Harry Potter, bit of angst, mentions of mpreg, minor background characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 19:29:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13014603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/28Danny_Z/pseuds/28Danny_Z
Summary: It's their Eight year at Hogwarts.  Draco is secretly in love with Harry, but the dark haired Gryffindor has a girlfriend. Draco would most likely hide his feelings forever, but after a misused spell during DADA, everyone learns about his deepest desire- having a family with Harry.





	The Erised Charm

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone. :)
> 
> This took me longer than expected, and it isn't even that good, but hell- here it is. I hope you'll like it.  
> I rated it mature because of very slight mention of Mpreg.  
> Also, if someone read my pervious works, thanks everyone for kudos and comments, you guys are awsome!!!  
> And once again, not a native english speaker here, so sorry for any mistakes.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own any place or characters in this story (with exceptions of 1 OMC and 1 OFC in this fic). They all belong to J. K. Rowling.

Draco Malfoy woke up with a start. Eyes wide, his heart was beating fast, his lungs were searching for air. There was darkness surrounding him and it was quite a while until he calmed down and realized where exactly he was.

Hogwarts. He was at Hogwarts.

His eyes were already used to the darkness, so now he could see the room he was in. He could see a small squared table in the opposite corner, covered with parchments and unfinished essays. He could see his wardrobe, doors slightly ajar, with a date for his family owl on top. He could see a chair next to it, with his school uniform, silvery and green tie almost shining in the dark.

Yes, this was his bed. And his bedchamber. Part of the 8th year's common place. At Hogwarts. And it was just an ordinary darkness. It wasn't death and despair he remembered from his brief imprisonment in Azkaban. He was safe.

He casted a quick Tempus charm. Almost half past seven. Draco sighed in happiness. It was time to get up, unless he would want to miss breakfast. He didn't have to stay here, with his thoughts the only company.

He got up from his bed and crossed the room to get to his tiny bathroom. Luckily for him, every chamber for returning 8th year students had private bathroom and so he didn't have to share with others. It was enough that they had one common room (not that he spent much time there) and the glares of his fellow students were too much. As if he was a burden they had to put up with. An obstacle, an unwanted presence. He guessed that he really was.

The only thing that helped him to survive until now was a silent truce between him and the golden trio. After all, Potter’s testimony was the only thing that saved him as his mother from life in prison. So, there were no more fights, no more taunting. He even shared few friendlier encounters with the Golden boy, when they met in the kitchens, both woken up by nightmares. Or during the Potions lessons (‘as the best student, Harry here could help you, Mr. Malfoy.’, ha ha, very funny Slughorn). During those moments, he was happiest. Because he could be with him.

'Ugh, pathetic,' Draco thought as he was brushing his teeth. He should stop thinking about Potter. He **had** to stop. It wasn't doing any good for him. They might be friendlier to each other but he had to give up on his crush on Harry Potter. Harry was straight. He had a girlfriend. And even if there weren't these two obstacles, there was one thing that mattered the most. Harry Potter would never be interested in a Death Eater like him.

Draco spit out the toothpaste. These thoughts really didn't do well for his sanity. He really ought to stop.

After he finished rinsing his teeth, he moved his attention to his hair. He let them grow longer, and he didn't use any hair gel any more. They were now long enough to touch his shoulders, and Draco thought that he looked very handsome with the way they framed his face. It seemed less points now.

Then he shaved, as every morning. When he looked at himself in the mirror, there was  now the only thing left to do. The final touch for his appearance. A Glamour spell. That way, he could cover the dark circles under his eyes, but more importantly, the black bruise playing around his left eye and a broken lower lip. A reminder of how much some students didn't want him in their school. However, being a Malfoy meant that he should always look collected, no matter the circumstances. So he took every punch and every curse they threw at him, always with the Malfoy mask put on.

When he finished in the bathroom, Draco went to get dressed. It was almost time to have breakfast and then he had his first lesson of the day. Ha was glad that today, he only had four subjects. Potions (thank Merlin for small miracles) and Arithmancy in the morning, Muggle studies (a mandatory subject for all) and Defence against the Dark arts in the afternoon.

Both of the afternoon subjects were for 7th and 8th years together, and they were taught by new teachers. Frank Sullivan for Muggle studies was a right bastard. Being in his forties, he looked to be a nice and fair man at first, but that really was just a first impression. Recommended by Ministry of magic, he took every opportunity to somehow humiliate Draco. Luckily for him, Sally Gray for DADA was much better. She was young, only 28 years, and she also had past connected with the dark side. Just like for Draco, her uncle and aunt were Death Eaters, and they both wanted her to join. She was stronger than Draco though, she resisted and never joined, although she had a remarkable knowledge about the dark magic. She was always nice to Draco, even though she was somehow eager to try new spells, which almost always ended up badly. The first time she tried such thing, it was one ancient rune with magical abilities to uncover hidden dark magic. Once the rune was active, Draco's left forearm lighted up like Christmas tree. She apologized to Draco immediately, and he knew that she didn't do it intentionally, but still it hurt.

At breakfast, Draco sat on his usual seat. Facing the Gryffindor table across the Great hall, he had a perfect view of his long arm crush. Harry Potter was sitting in the middle of the group of his friends: Granger on his left with her boyfriend, Weasley, by her side. Honestly, Draco thought that she could have more than Weasel, but whatever. Finnigan and Thomas were sitting in front of Harry, partly obscuring Draco's view of him. Longbottom was sitting on their left, laughing at some joke they just said. He was facing Ginny Weasley. She had her right hand on the table, fingers entwined with Harry's. Draco was now glaring at them. His situation couldn't be more pathetic. Unlike Harry, his friends left, never coming back to Hogwarts. He didn't have girlfriend (well, boyfriend, with him being gay and all, but still), and unlike Harry, he was hopelessly pinning after one person he could never have.

One week before the beginning of the school year, the Daily Prophet published an article: Saviour’s love life: uncover the secrets of our hero. There weren't any secrets though, just mentioned about his brief romance with Cho Chang, and of course, his relationship with the Weasley girl. Draco couldn't hate her, she was friends with Astoria Greengrass after all and she seemed decent enough, but she had something that he wanted, which caused Draco taste bitterness on his tongue every time he saw her holding Harry's hand. Just like now. They never missed in public, and the Prophet sometimes hinted on 'troubles in paradises', but these were still together, still laughing, still boyfriend and girlfriend. And Draco's heart ached more and more at the sight.

Losing his appetite, he got up and went to the Potions lab (even though he only ate half of his breakfast). He was the first one get to the classroom, of course. He was used to it though. He leaned on the wall and closed his eyes. One more year. Just eight more months and he would be free to go wherever he wanted. The problem was that he didn’t know where he wanted to go. Well, he could always go to France. His family had some properties there that they were able to keep even after the Ministry took almost everything from them. Or he could visit Pansy and Blaise in Italy. However, both these options meant that he would leave his home. He would leave Britain. He wouldn’t se Harry any more.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain running through his stomach. He opened his eyes fast enough to see a Ravenclaw student, probably 6th year to smirk at him. He still had his wand ready. Draco knew that he didn’t have enough time to draw his own. He swallowed.

“Go on, then. What are you waiting for, boy?”

“You deserve to rot in Azkaban. For all those things you’ve done. For all those you’ve harmed.”

“Yes, maybe you’re right. But I am here. You obviously want to hurt me. So get on with it.” Draco spat.

The boy drew his wand to curse Draco once more, when suddenly there were voices coming from the further end of the corridor. The boy looked in the way of those voices, eyes wide. Draco looked the same way. There they were, Harry and his friends. Just in that moment, Harry noticed Draco and the Ravenclaw. He narrowed his eyes.

The Ravenclaw boy obviously didn’t want to make Harry Potter his enemy. He quickly pocketed his wand and disappeared. Harry, Ron and Hermione reached the place Draco was standing.

“Is everything alright? Did he bother you or something?” Harry asked Draco, a hint of worry audible in his voice.”

“No, it was nothing.”

“You would tell me if something happened, right, Malfoy?” Harry didn’t want to let it go. Both his friends shot him a strange look, as if they knew something that Harry himself didn’t.

Draco just snorted.

“Of course, Potter. We don’t want to let you ‘Saviour complex’ rest for too long. It could get rusty.”

“Don’t be like that, Malfoy. I thought that we wouldn’t fight any more.”

“Yeah…. Well, I’m-”

Just in that moment, the door to the classroom opened and Slughorn called them impatiently in. The rest of their classmates joined them right away.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

The lesson went better than Draco anticipated. Harry let go of the nagging about the Ravenclaw jerk, and so they worked in comfortable silence. Draco and Harry were quite efficient team, so the making of the Scales removing potion went without and explosions or other catastrophes. Draco was especially fond of one moment when his and Harry's fingers touched when they moved their hands to get pearl dust at the exactly the same time. Draco's skin was still burning from that sensation, even now when these were about to start DADA.

It was one of the few lessons that 8th and 7th years shared . Draco wouldn't mind if Ginevra Weasley wasn't part of that class too. A presence of Harry's girlfriend wasn't exactly something Draco needed when he ought to focus on his personal defence. Not that she would bother him or anything, she seemed to follow an example of the Golden trio, but still.

Going into the classroom, Draco noticed that one part of said groin was missing. He was so used to Harry's presence that he was able to find him anywhere. Now, however, he couldn't see those wild black hair, nor the impossibly green eyes. Where was Harry? Surely he wouldn't miss his favourite subject. At least Granger with Weasley didn't seem to be afraid nor nervous about where he could be, so Draco was able to breathe better. If something happens to Harry, they wouldn't be so calm.

"Alright class, are you ready for today's lesson?"

"Yes, professor," they answered as one.

"Ok, well..... I have a great for you today. It's a new invention of the Ministry-"

Draco groaned inwardly. What kind of catastrophe would happen to him today?

"- and the Curse breakers from Gringotts. They were trying to come up with a spell that would help during interrogation of suspects and that would help to identify the dark wizards."

Draco heard snickers coming from behind him. Zacharias Smith was standing there, smirking at Draco. What a prick.

"However," miss Gray continued, "they fear that the spell could also be used by said desk wizards to torture and black mail their enemies. So, the Ministry allowed me to try this spell during our lesson, to see if there really are some side effects of introducing this spell to the public. Don't worry, it will not be dangerous for you."

Surprisingly, that didn't calm Draco down.

"Now, the working title of this spell is The Erised charm. Does someone know what Erised is and with what magical object is this word associated?"

Of course, Granger was the one to raise her hand in her want to answer the question. For Draco's surprises, her ginger boyfriend was the second one to follow.

"Yes, miss Granger?" Professor nodded at the girl.

"The word 'Erised' means 'desire' in backwards. It's connected with Mirror of Erised, which is a magical object that shows observer his deepest desires."

"Exactly, miss Granger. Ten points to Gryffindor. However, the Mirror of Erised shows the reflection of desires only to the person to whom these belong to. If there would be one person standing right in front of the mirror, and another person standing slightly behind the first one, that other person wouldn't be able to see the reflection of desires belonging to the first person. And so, the Ministry came up with this new spell. When casted, persons desires will materialize in thin air, the person whose desires will that be will be able to touch and fell everything showed, and also other people will be able to see those reflections. This, as I said, could help the ministry workers with some cases."

And she smiled at the class. Some students smiled back at her, already eager to try that spell. However, some others weren't that ecstatic about showing their desires to the whole class. Draco, of course, was one of them. He had a perfect idea of what his deepest desires were, and he really didn't want to show them to others.

"Ok now, please, stand in a circle." So they did. "I will now cast the spell. It's still under the surveillance of the Ministry, so its range will be limited." She cast the spell into the middle of the newly formed circle. There was a flash of light and a bluish shimmer appeared in the air.

"So, you can see that the spell doesn't work on you now. If you would be to stand in the middle, however, it would immediately start working. Now, do we have any volunteers to step in?"

..................................................................

As a surprise for almost everyone, Neville Longbottom was the first one to step into the circle. They were all able to see his desires. Draco laughed inwardly. Longbottom wanted to be a Herbology teacher at Hogwarts, with Susan Bones as his wife. That was so Gryffindor of him. Then he saw two people that must have been his parents. Draco knew that they were now hospitalised in St. Mungo, and his heart clenched when he remembered whose fault it was.

"Finite," said Gray. "Thank you, Mr. Longbottom." Neville smiled at her sadly.

"Well now, who's next?"

One by one, Draco's classmates stepped into the circle to reveal their hidden desires. Some were not that surprising (Granger's desire was to be the youngest Minister for magic ever, with Ronald as her husband), some came as surprise for almost everyone (who would have thought that Ernie Macmillan wanted to be a world famous singer?), and some were just ordinary (like Luna's, whose desire was to be happy and surrounded by her family and friends, or Ginevra's, who dreamed about being a professional Quidditch player, even though Draco was surprised that there were no there of Harry in her desires).

And even though it as sintered tiny to see what others dreamed of, Draco dreaded the time when he would have to step in the circle and show everyone what he wanted the most. Time went by though, so maybe he won't have to do it. There were many students in there, and it might not be enough time for everyone to be subjected to the spell, and Draco thought that he might escape his humiliation before the lesson was finished, so it was possible that today would be his lucky day.

As the fair wanted it though, it wasn't. And it was Smith's fault.

"Well," the boy smirked, "that's all nice and all, seeing everyone with their families and stuff, but maybe someone dreams about a bit 'darker' future for themselves." And he shot a nasty glare to Draco.

The blond boy just rolled his eyes. "Very clever. Everyone here knows about my past, so it's nothing new, Smith. Is that really the best you can do? To target me, a nasty Death Eater?"

"You haven't seen me at my best, Malfoy."

"Boys, please, calm down. There's no need to-"

"Well, Smith, your so called 'best' is others ordinary, and I'm being quite generous now, so I just guess no one has ever noticed you trying." Draco smirked back. Twin could play this game and after all, he was a Slytherin.

Smith turned an ugly shade of red. "Don't talk to me like that you filthy Death Eater. I bet that you dream about bringing back You-know-who, because you miss licking the dirt of his shoes." And Draco saw red.

"Alright right, that's enough. Stop it this instant!" Professor Gray tried to calm the situation down, but Draco wasn't paying any attention to her. H lunched forward to lunch Smith stewing in his ugly face, but to Draco's utter shame, Smith was quicker. He draw his wand and before Draco what was happening, he was on his knees in the middle of the circle, in the power range of that damned spell.

"No," he breathed.

There was door in front of him. When Draco got up to his feet, the door slowly opened to reveal a nicely decorated hallway in what seems like a family house. Looking around, Draco saw a soft carpet in the floor, and candle lights on the walls. There were stairs on the left side, leading to the first floor.

Then, Draco heard a sharp shout of joy. His eyes widened as he saw two small silhouettes running towards him.

"Papa!" the first boy, blond haired, shouted as he was getting nearer to him.

"You're home!" came from the second boy, the one with black hair, as he was running slightly behind the first one.

Draco fell again, and then the boys reached him. They hugged him with their tiny arms, and Draco hugged them back as much as he could.

"Papa, we missed you. Why do you have to leave every day?" the blond boy asked.

"Scorpius, papa has to work, remember? That's why he leaves. Right, papa?"

Draco smiled at the boy. He looked just like Harry. Before he could speak, Scorpius cut in.

"I know that, Albus, I'm not stupid. I know that you work, papa," he turned back to Draco with the same grey eyes Draco himself had, "but I miss you."

Draco didn't know what to say. They were his sons, he dreamed about having children with Harry, but now, he has lost all the words. Eventually, he smiled at the boys and said: "Don't worry. I will take a free week soon, and we will go somewhere nice. What would you say about a trip, hmm?"

"Yes!" said boys as one.

Draco’s smile widened. “Well, I suppose you’re not here alone, right? Where are others?”

“James and Teddy are in the garden practicing Quidditch,” said Scorpius proudly. Albus frowned. “They didn’t want us to join, James said that we are too young. But that’s not fair, he’s our brother and he should be nice on us,” he pouted.

Another son. Draco had another son.

“Here you are! What did I tell you? You are faster than me, so don’t run away, boys!” Andromeda Tonks was walking as quickly as she was able to. She smiled at Draco. “Thanks Merlin that you are here. I was supposed to take care of those two urchins while Cissa is with girls. Harry really needs some time for himself. He says that he’s not tired, but you know him. He just says that. I surely would be tired if I had twins two times in a row.”

“What?” Draco breathed in a question.

She just laughed. “Well, you’re right on time. I will take boys on a dinner and Cissa will take care about little Lily and little Narcissa tonight as planned. You will have the whole house for yourself and Harry.” And she took hold of both boys, who seemed to be quite happy about having a dinner with their great-aunt.

“Wait,” Draco called after her. “Where is he?”

“Oh,” smile smiled. “He’s waiting for you in the winter garden.” And she disappeared.

Draco crossed the hallway and went through the second door to his right. He subconsciously knew where to go. It didn’t take him long and he reached the entrance to where **he** was waiting for him. _For him!_

As he entered, he immediately saw him. Harry was standing next to the bush of wild roses, slightly bowed and inhaling the scent.

Draco hesitated for a while, but then he spoke. “Potter.”

Harry straightened and turned around. There was a bright smile playing on his face and Draco’s heart skipped a beat.

“It’s Malfoy-Potter, as you very well know, Draco.” And he came close to Draco, leaned forward and kissed him. Draco couldn’t help himself, he hugged Harry closer. The kiss was chaste, but it was everything he ever dreamed of. When their lips parted, Harry smiled cheekilly. “Did I hear it right that Andromeda and Narcissa left with kids?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Happy anniversary, Draco.” And he lifted his hand to stroke Draco’s cheek. The green eyes met gray and Harry frowned. “What is it, love?”

“What do you mean?” Draco whispered.

“Why are you crying?”

And indeed, Draco could feel hot tears running down his face. “It’s … nothing.”

“Draco, I know that it’s not. What’s happening?”

“I love you Harry,” Draco stuttered.

Harry chuckled. “I hope so. That’s why we got married, after all. Also,” he smiled warmly at Draco, “I love you too.”

But Draco knew that it wasn’t true. No matter how this illusion felt real, it was just _an illusion_ , nothing more. His heart fell.

“No, you don’t,” he whispered, tears burning in his eyes.

“Draco, why would you say something like that?”

“Because it’s truth. You could never love someone like me. I don’t deserve you. And even if this was truth, you would be too good to be wasted on me. Even in this fake world, you deserve so much more than me.”

“Why do you say that this is not real? Draco, look at me. Do you think that I lie to you? That I don’t love you?” Harry was now pleading with his eyes. But Draco had to be strong. He couldn’t let his desire to stay here to defeat him. He took Harry’s hand in his. It was warm and he wanted to hold it for the rest of his life. But this was just a spell. It wasn’t real. His heart was aching but he knew that he had to leave. Now.

“I will always love you, Harry. I can’t imagine that I would ever meet someone I would love more than you. But I have to go now. I’m sorry,” Draco sobbed.

“Draco, I don’t-“

“Finite.”

And Draco’s vision got back to normal. He was back in the classroom, surrounded by his classmates. Who now knew everything about his feelings towards Harry.

No one spoke. Draco was just standing in the middle of the circle, silent tears running down his cheeks. He didn’t try to hold back. He knew it wouldn’t change anything. He was vulnerable in front of everyone and he didn’t care anymore.

There came a silent whisper. "Ehm, Malfoy..."

Her.

Draco gritted his teeth. He didn't want to talk to her. Anyone but her, please, just not Ginevra.

"Malfoy, listen. I-"

"Don't."

She wouldn't let it go. She entered closer to him, then almost hesitantly reached his shoulder with her hand. "Malfoy, please. Just listen to me. There's something-"

"I said don't!" And he pushed her away.

"Hey! What are you doing to her?" Draco's heart stopped. It was Harry.

The blond boy turned to the classroom door, and there he was. His hair was wild, and he had a bruise on his left cheek. He was frowning at Draco.

"Leave it be, Harry," Ginny plead, but Harry just shook his head.

"Hey, I don't know what's going on. I just came here and saw him pushing you for no reason. So don't be mad at me for defending you, Ginny." He shifted his attention to Draco, green eyes full of anger. "And you. Why did you do that, hmmm? I thought that that stupid rivalry was past us. We were better. Hell, I even thought that we were friends, Draco! So why do you still hurt people I care about?"

Cracks eyes hardened. "We've always been enemies, Potter. So why should it change?"

"But I **don't want** to be your enemy!"

"And I don't want to be your **friend.** " Draco whispered, his voice cracking. The bell rang, marking the end of the lesson. Draco accioed his bag and went past Harry, but the black haired boy caught his hand. "Draco-"

"Leave it, Potter. Just.... Leave me be." And he left.

.............................................................

That evening, Draco didn't go to dinner. He stayed in his bedroom instead, thinking about that horrible day over and over again. How could it go so wrong?

Silent tears were running down his cheeks, and he just lay in he bed, thinking about his misery. Thinking about Harry. His thoughts shifted to the first day he met him. He remembered seeing that slim boy for the very first time at Madam Malkin's. He had the most beautiful eyes Draco's ever seen. He was practically drowning in that green his whole life. But those eyes didn't look at him in a way Draco wanted to. They haunted him instead of bringing him peace.

...........................................................

The next few days were torture. Especially because Ginevra and Harry both tried to reach him and talk to him. Probably to gently tell him that they understood what it must feel like for him, but that they were together and he didn't have a chance with Harry. 'As if I don't know that already.' And so Draco spent every single day by pushing them away. They kept coming back though. 'Stupid Gryffindor, why can't they leave me alone?'

It seemed that those who were witnesses during that awful lesson made a promise to keep everything for themselves, beaches there was no one should would taunt Draco about what happened. Well, except for Smith. Draco's uncovered secret was like ac early Christmas present for him, and he practically lived for laughing at Draco.

It happened on Friday morning. Draco was on his way to Charms lesson, when he was approached by Ginevra once again.

"Malfoy, stop."

"Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you and Potter to leave me alone?"

She smirked at him. "As long as you'll be pushing me away, I won't stop. And neither will Harry. So it really would be better for you to listen."

Draco stopped and looked at her. "And about **what** exactly do you want to talk, hmmm?"

"Come on, it’s obvious," came from other side of the corridor. Draco and Ginny both looked in the way of that voice. Smith was standing there, leaning against the wall, with malicious smile on his ugly face.

Ginny crossed her arms and raised her chin. "And why are **you** here, Smith? This is not your concern, so why didn't you go to practice 1 st year spells or something."

Draco chuckled against his own will. He could see why Harry liked her. Smith's face turned ugly shade of red. "I'd prefer to stay here. I bet it will be much more interesting, watching you two talk about Potter. That's your only common topic, right? How to get to Potter's pants."

"Don't talk about Harry like that! /Get lost you asshole!" Ginny and Draco spoke as one.

“And why not?” he shifted his attention to Ginny. “We all saw what he dreams about. As if that would ever happen. Who would want a scum like him?” and he went closer to the pair.

“But maybe, you would like it, hmm? You seem to be kind of a slut, given the number of your ex boyfriends, so perhaps you would want for him to join you and Potter in bed, right?”

That was it.

Draco saw red.

He wasn’t the only one, though. As soon as he drew his wand, he saw with the corner of his eye that Ginny did exactly the same thing. Smith didn’t even see it coming. The spells that Ginny and Draco cast hit him square in chest, and he fell to the floor.

“Good work, Malfoy.”

Draco looked at her. She was smirking and he couldn’t help but nod back. “You weren’t bad yourself, Weasley.”

“As glad as I am to see you two on sort of friendly terms,” came from behind Draco, “I am very much disappointed with this violence.”

Draco sighed. Turning around, he saw Headmistress McGonagall to shot them a disapproving glare. He lowered his eyes and his heart fell. This was the end. She was one of the few who believed that he deserved a second chance, and now he messed up. She was surely going to expel him.

“Mister Smith, get up. Even though your injury isn’t bad, you still need to go to the Infirmary. Surely you know the way. And the two of you,” she nodded at Draco and Ginny, “twenty points from both Slytherin and Gryffindor, for hurting a fellow student. I thought better of you.”

Draco still couldn’t look her in the eyes. He was ashamed of himself. Ginny, on the other hand, felt the need to stand up for herself. “We are sorry, headmistress. It wasn’t a well-thought move. But he deserved it. He was insulting Draco and Harry, and I couldn’t just stand here and-“

“Thank you, Ms Weasley, for your statement about the occurrence. I happened to hear the end of Mr Smith’s accusations, however, not even something like that gives you a right to attack people. Mr Malfoy, be assured that this incident“ she paused and he looked at her with resignation in his eyes,  “won’t be considered as a violation of the terms according which you were allowed to finish you studies. Given the circumstances. Remember, though, that if the incident shall repeat, I would have to report it to the Ministry.”

“Thank you, headmistress.” Draco whispered and – was it a play of light? – he saw her smile back.

“Oh, and just to be sure that this won’t happen again, both of you will be serving a detention tonight. I will send you further information when the dinner is served. Now, I guess you have lessons to be.” Then, she turned on the heel and went Merlin only knows where.

“Well, that went better than I expected. Hmm, listen, I really need to talk to you about Harry.”

Draco sighed. “Don’t. I mean it. There’s no reason to talk. The thing you all saw when the spell was cast at me, it’s nothing but a dream. Trust me or not, but I know where my place is. I know that I don’t have a chance with Harry. So I can assure you that I have no intention of getting in a way of your and Harry’s relationship or breaking you two up or whatever. I guess that that’s what you wanted so desperately to talk about. But don’t worry about that. I can see how happy he is with you, and I won’t be the one to take that happiness from him.” Draco frowned. “But, I have to ask you about one thing. Let’s forget about that fucking lesson and about everything you saw there. I am trying to forget every day, and honestly, you should do the same.”

And before Ginny even got a chance to say something, he quickly left.

…………………………………………………………………..

During dinner, Draco and Ginny both received a letter from headmistress regarding details about their evening detention. They would meet at eight and will be sorting damaged astrological maps for professor Sinistra.

Draco sighed in relief. He knew that if they were caught by anyone but McGonagall, the punishment would be much worse. He just hoped that Ginevra took his words seriously and wouldn't bother him again with her intentions to talk about Potter.

Little did he know that Ginny’s persistence will bring him happiness.

At eight precisely, Draco and Ginny were met by professor Sinistra at her office on 6th floor. After she told them what exactly they would do for the next two hours, she left, leaving them alone in an awkward silence. Soon, Ginny spoke.

“Ehm, Malfoy?”

“What?!” Draco growled.

“We finally have time to talk, and,” she pointed at him with one finger, “you cannot leave.”

“Please, no…” Draco sighed.

“No, listen to me, Malfoy. It’s for your own good.” Draco turned away from her, with intention to get as far away as possible in the small space of the office, but Ginny caught his arm.

“Listen, Harry and I aren’t together.”

Draco stopped. “What?”

“We aren’t dating.”

“What are you playing at, Weasley?”

“This is why I and Harry wanted to talk to you the whole time. Harry wanted to apologize for how harsh he was during DADA, and I… I was trying to tell you the truth. Harry and I aren’t together. We weren’t since the end of Harry’s sixth year. After we broke up, many things changed. I had time to realize that even though I like Harry, it’s more in a brotherly/sisterly way. And harry feels the same way. So, we knew that the best option for us would be to remain friends.”

“Yeah, funny,” Draco spat. “So that’s why you always hold hands, and act like two teenagers in love, right? Stop bullshitting me, Weasley! I know what I was seeing since the beginning of the year. The whole world knows that you and Potter are together thanks to that article in the Prophet. I don’t know what your plan is, but you won’t fool me.”

Ginny shook her head. “Malfoy, you clearly don’t understand. It was just a pretend relationship. All of it. There was so much pressure on both Harry and me. My family…. They keep saying how perfect for each other we are, they expect us to be together, but we both know that it wouldn’t work. And the public? It was horrible! Everyone wanted to know about Harry’s personal life. Everywhere you looked at, people wanted to get close to him, to date him, and he didn’t know what to do. Harry doesn’t want someone to like him just because of his name and the fact that he defeated Voldemort. He wants someone to like him, to like Harry. Because of all this, we decided to pretend that we are together, for Harry’s and mine peace. That’s why we kept holding hands and acted all coupley… but we are **NOT** together.”

No, Draco really didn’t understand. “Why would Harry do something like that?”

Ginny sighed: “As I’ve already told you, we did it to protect ourselves, me from my family’s expectations, and Harry from public eye. But few days ago, we decided to call it off. Tomorrow, there will be an article that we’ve broken up.”

“But why would you do something like that? You yourself said that you did it as a precaution? Why change that?” Draco was now looking at her questioningly.

Ginny shrugged. “Well, we couldn’t keep doing it forever, right? Besides, we both like someone and we want to live our lives, so why not?” She crossed the room, sat on the table and patted at space beside her. Draco hesitantly sat there and sighed.

“Do you want to know why he came late for DADA that day?” she asked.

“Well, if you want to tell me….”

She chuckled. “He fought with that jerk Rawenclaw who bothered you in that morning. Harry said that he accidentally saw him in the corridor and decided to talk to him about how that war is over, how you were found innocent and so on, but the jerk wouldn’t listen to Harry. He kept talking shit about you, and Harry snapped. He beat him up. That’s why he had the bruise and everything when he showed up.”

“He didn’t have to do it. I’m not worth it.”

“For Harry, you are.” And she looked at him with raised eyebrow. “You are very important to him.”

Draco shook his head. “You Gryffindors are weird.”

Ginny laughed. “Yeah, maybe. I have another question for you. Why do you think that you were released from Azkaban?”

Draco swallowed. He took a deep breath to answer: “Because potter spoke in my favour. Without him, I would be screwed.”

Ginny nodded. “Truth. But he wasn’t the only one. There were others who spoke in your favour.”

“No, there weren’t. I was there, there was only Potter who spoke for me during the trial.”

“Yes, but there were others who gave testimony in your favour outside the court. The jury knew about other reasons why you deserved to be released, and they took them into consideration.”

“Who, ehm… who were those others? Draco asked, even though he had an idea. He just didn’t know why would they speak in his favour.”

“Well, the first one was Luna. She told everyone how you saved her life many times during her imprisonment at the Malfoy Manor. How you used to bring her and Mr Ollivander bigger portions of food, and clean clothes. How you brought them Warmer blankets. How, when you were the one to torture the, you did it only by half, that you didn’t really want to hurt them.”

Draco felt tears in his eyes. It was suddenly hard to breath. “It was the least I could do.”

“But if the Death Eaters knew about all of that, it might have been your end. And you did it anyway.”

Draco didn’t know what to say, so she continued. “The other two were me and Neville. You probably knew about Luna, nut this might be bit surprising for you, right?”

“Yes,” he breathed.

“Well, before you were taken back to the Manor, we still hated you. So much, you have no idea. So, Neville and I decided to follow you and play pranks at you, stop you from doing bad things and stuff. But, one night, when we were following you, we saw something. You went to the empty class, and when we came closer, I have to tell you that we were surprised more than ever. Who would have thought, that Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin prince and a Death Eater, would be taking care of younger students who were tortured by Carrows the day before? We saw how you took care of them, how you told them that everything will be all right. You cured their bruises from Cruciatus and other punishments the Carrows threw at them. You told them not to worry, that Harry will soon save them all. We were taken aback. When we followed you the next night, we saw the same thing. Despite everything, despite the danger you might have got yourself into, you kept taking care of them, no matter the house they belonged to, no matter your own exhaustion. We saw that, after all you’ve done, you were a good person. That’s why we decided to speak in your favour.”

Draco was legitimately crying now. He thought that only Harry and McGonagall believed in him, saw that he didn’t do those horrible things from his own will, but this… the cold he was feeling inside his bones for more than three years weakened a little.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. “ She laughed, “You have no idea how glad Harry was when we told him about it. He tends to see the good in people, and I’m sure he was relieved that he was right about you.”

“So that’s why he acted friendly towards me this year?”

“Well…” Ginny hesitated. “That was one reason. The second reason was that he’s glad that he fell in love with a good person, and not with someone cruel.”

“What?” Draco was sure that he misheard the last part.

“Yeah. As I said, you are important to him. **Very** important. That’s why he made peace with you at the beginning of the year. That’s why he fought everyone who would say something bad about you. That’s why he was so desperate to talk to you after DADA and to apologize to you. He doesn’t want you to hate him again, he wants to protect you, all because he likes you. A lot.”

She shifted a little.

“And that’s why I told him about everything that happened during DADA right before I came here.”

Draco’s heart stopped. “You. Did. Not.”

“Yes, I did. Listen, during DADA, I saw you. The real you. And I saw that you love him. Harry deserves that. He deserves someone who will love him as Harry, and not The-boy-who-lived, not The Chosen One. So, this is your opportunity. An honestly, I was kind of tired of how he always talks about you.” She rolled his eyes. “It took him so long to admit that he has feelings for you, and after that, he didn’t stop blabbing about you. How handsome you’ve got, how he likes your new hairdo. But the way you acted, he didn’t think that he would have a chance with you. So what else was I supposed to do? Trust me, now you can both admit your feelings to each other and solve this mess. Don’t you think?”

Draco slowly nodded.

“Great, I told him to wait for me after this detention is finished, so you can talk to him then.”

“All right. And Weasley?” She looked at him expectantly. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome.”

……………………………………………………….

As Ginevra said (and Draco could now call her Ginny, after all she did for him), harry was waiting in the corridor in front of Sinistra’s office. In the moment Draco saw him, his heart sped up. He couldn’t help no to notice a blush spreading over Harry’s face.

“Hi, Harry.”

“Hi, Ginny. So you’re done. Do you want me to walk you back to your common room?”

“No, Harry. It’s not necessary. I can manage by myself. But you can walk back with Draco, right?” She winked at the boys and left them alone in the corridor.

“Sooo…. Ehmmm…. Should we go to the common room? It’s almost curfew and, well…”

“Yeah,” Draco nodded. “We should go back before someone catches us.”

“Hmm.”

The walk to the 8th year common room was a bit awkward, at least for Draco. The only good thing was that he caught Harry looking at him an biting his lip nervously. He looked delectable.

For their surprise, there were only three people in the common room, neither of them paying any attention to the boys. So, they crossed the common room and went to the bedchamber section. Again without a single word.

Draco was hurting again. Even after what Ginny told him, Harry didn’t try to talk to him. When he was reaching for the doorknob, he heard Harry clean his throat.

“Draco.”

Draco slowly turned to face Harry.

“Ehm.. we should talk.”

“Yeah… we should…”

“So, uhm, do you…. Do you want to go to mine?”

“All right. Yeah.” Draco nodded. Harry opened the door to his own chamber and Draco followed him in.  As soon as he walked in, Draco’s head began to spin. The room smelled exactly as Harry, the musky scent filling his every pore. It was intoxicating.

Harry went to sit on his bed. He nervously shuffled his legs. “Ehm, come sit here. I feel nervous when you’re just standing there.” and he patted the space next to him. Draco hesitated for a while, but then he went to sit next to Harry.

Sitting so close to him, he could feel the warm of Harry’s body. Mixed with the scent that just screamed ‘Harry!’, Draco’s head began to spin.

“So,” Harry spoke, “first of all, I wanted to apologize for how I shouted at you during DADA. It wasn’t fair from me, I didn’t know what happened exactly and I jumped to the conclusion. So, I’m sorry, Draco.”

“There’s nothing to forgive. I used to be a prick, you had every right to expect me to still being one.”

Harry smiled at him, then he blushed harder. He licked his lower lip and Draco’s eyes followed the move.

“Ehm, thank you. Ugh…. Ginny also told me what happened that day. She told me about the spell and about, uhm, about was your desire.”

“Yeah, well… I suppose that it was a surprise for everyone.”

Harry chuckled. “I guess it was.”

“She also told me that you two, in fact, aren’t dating. And… and that you…. That you have some feelings for me… sort of.”

“Did she?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m glad that she did. Sometimes, I’m bit slow on the uptake.” And he looked at Draco. The green met grey and Draco’s heart stopped. Then, they both leaned closer.

Their lips touched. Draco remembered kissing the dream Harry, but this was so much more. His lips were warm and soft, shy and demanding at once. Draco couldn’t think straight. He was sitting in Harry’s room. On Harry’s bed. Kissing him. Kissing Harry.

Draco slowly moved his left hand to place it on Harry’s lower back. He could feel Harry’s both hands running through his hair. He remembered how Ginny said that Harry liked his new longer hair. Draco smiled into the kiss.

When their lips parted, they were both gasping for air. Harry was biting his lip again and Draco couldn’t help but place another kiss in the corner of his mouth. Then, he smiled at Harry.

“I wish we weren’t that dumb and did this sooner.”

“Me too.” Harry smiled at him. “Will you… will you stay with me tonight?”

“If you want me to-“

“I want you to.”

“Ok. Then I’ll stay.”

Later, when they were laying in the bed, still fully clothed, his new boyfriend sound asleep and wrapped around Draco, the blond boy smiled for himself. He couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if professor Gray didn’t come up with that spell. Planting soft kiss into Harry’s wild hair, he thought that he should by her some premium chocolates as ‘Thank you’.

 

The end.


End file.
